Every day we see the headlines and horror stories. Millions of health insurance policies canceled, with an exponential number more facing the ax next year. And besides the broken promises, we have a broken website that makes it nearly impossible for the long suffering uninsured, and the newly uninsured, to sign up. On top of what appears to be a combination of poor planning, | Read More »

Oh, my. That is what we call beautiful. Happy Labor Day! — Governor Walker (@GovWalker) September 2, 2013 To the accompaniment of many, many people screaming in impotent rage. Which is as it should be. Moe Lane (crosspost) Via Trollin’ RT @GovWalker: Happy Labor Day! — Ben Howe (@BenHowe) September 2, 2013

Much has been written in recent days on Rick Santorum and why he isn’t the presumptive frontrunner for the GOP’s presidential nod come 2016. As the runner-up in last year’s bout for the nomination, rolling up 11 primary wins and defying the odds with a shoestring campaign operation, the former Pennsylvania senator easily meets the criteria for recent-history GOP nominees. Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Dole, McCain, | Read More »

There’s trouble brewing in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. It’s already ugly and a lot of us fear it’s going to get a lot worse. At issue is a proposed iron mine that is in the early permitting process. It took a hard fought legislative victory to even get to the point where state-mandating testing could take place. But now the mere presence of miners in the Badger | Read More »

If ever there was a region where incumbent Republican governors can experience the great GOP gubernatorial apocalypse, it is the upper Midwest. Three of the races involve Republican incumbents who rode the Republican wave of 2010 into office. They are Rick Snyder in Michigan, John Kasich in Ohio and Scott Walker in Wisconsin. That potential loss of three Governor’s offices may be mitigated by a | Read More »

Democrats in Wisconsin want you to know: they’re going to be on the stick for 2014! Wisconsin Democrats repeatedly made the argument at their state convention over the weekend that Governor Scott Walker needs to be defeated in 2014. Hear that! They’re tanned! Rested! And ready to go! However, there continue to be few hints about exactly who will take on that challenge in the | Read More »

This post arose out of some thoughts I had after seeing Erick’s “Go Big or Go Home” post. If you haven’t read it yet, please do. Barry Goldwater’s The Conscience of a Conservative holds the distinction of being one of the few books I keep within easy reach of me in my apartment (the Bible being another one). Reading over Erick’s post reminded me of another part | Read More »

Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin) has possibly secured for himself a unique front-runner spot among his fellow Republican governors and rumored 2016 presidential contenders on the issue of healthcare. The expansion of Medicaid, once mandatory under ObamaCare, has now become nothing more than a mere suggestion that states can choose to either accept or reject thanks to the Supreme Court ruling on ObamaCare. It is quite | Read More »

Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin) has possibly secured for himself a unique front-runner spot among his fellow Republican governors and rumored 2016 presidential contenders on the issue of healthcare. The expansion of Medicaid, once mandatory under ObamaCare, has now become nothing more than a mere suggestion that states can choose to either accept or reject thanks to the Supreme Court ruling on ObamaCare. It is quite | Read More »

It was the great scandal that wasn’t. An investigation called for by Governor Scott Walker while he was Milwaukee County Executive morphed into a politically-charged, partisan witch hunt led by a Democrat district attorney whose office was bent extracting political blood from the newly elected Republican governor. Walker had asked prosecutors to look into allegations of financial misconduct on the part of some county employees, | Read More »

It was the great scandal that wasn’t. An investigation called for by Governor Scott Walker while he was Milwaukee County Executive morphed into a politically-charged, partisan witch hunt led by a Democrat district attorney whose office was bent extracting political blood from the newly elected Republican governor. Walker had asked prosecutors to look into allegations of financial misconduct on the part of some county employees, | Read More »

On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech discuss Scott Walker’s innovative solution for Medicaid expansion in Wisconsin, how this can be a model for other states, and why Medicaid is such a terrible health program.